The Dark Prophecy
by K. C. Trexler
Summary: Sonic has a question that has been bothering him ever since Chaos' defeat. Along with Sally and Angel's friend Kirrand Moonglow, Sonic ventures into the ancient echidna temple just outside of Emerald City to try and get an answer to his question. Meanwhile, Nicole has undergone a change after overloading which Tails discovers as he's repairing her.
1. Chapter 1

Sonic the Hedgehog and all related official characters are copyrights of SEGA, DiC, and Archie Comics. All non-official characters are copyrighted by myself. Please don't use without permission.

**Author's Note:** This story takes place approximately two weeks after the events of "Shards of the Past".

**The Dark Prophecy**

**Chapter 1**

Sonic lay on top of his bed, staring up at the straw ceiling of his hut as he searched for an answer to a question that had been plaguing him ever since they had returned from Emerald City. It had been nearly two weeks since the city had been destroyed by Chaos, the displaced citizens having been rounded up by the human military that had shown up only a few hours after the final battle had concluded and shipped out to homeless shelters in neighboring areas. Amy's parents had declined Sonic's offer to return to Knothole with him and Tails, leaving a sad Amy to say her goodbyes to her friends before leaving with one of the groups of refugees. Sonic and Tails had returned to Knothole after the whole ordeal was finally settled, only to face an angry Sally who had caught wind of Tails fight with Eggman. But Tails, true to his word to Sonic, stood up for himself, defending his actions and finally making Sally admit to herself that the young fox was no longer a kid anymore. Knuckles had returned to Floating Island, returning the Master Emerald to the Hidden Palace with Mighty's help. But all of these events had not erased one phrase from Sonic's mind that he had been repeatedly going over in his head time and time again trying to find a logical answer to.

"What on Mobius made Tikal say 'once more' to me right before she disappeared?" asked Sonic to himself. Looking over at the clock on his nightstand he saw that it was close to midnight. "Well, that's half of the night's sleep shot to pieces." Resigning himself to sleep, he also knew he couldn't solve the puzzle on his own. Deciding to talk to Sally first thing in the morning, he gave a sigh as he turned off the lamp on his nightstand before crawling under his sheets.

* * *

Later that morning, inside the community hut of Knothole, Cody sat in one of the many chairs that filled the inside of the large hut. While the robian hedgehog wasn't required to sit and observe what was going on in front of him, he had decided to make it a point to greet every single robian as soon as Nicole had finished wiping the mind control programming of the roboticizer from their AI matrixes. At the moment, a cat robian was the one hooked up to Nicole who was sitting on the table in front of Cody's chair. The little super computer made no noise as it ran Metal Sonic's programming through the robian's AI matrix, erasing Eggman's control over him. Suddenly, Nicole made a chime noise, signaling to Cody that the process had just finished. The robian suddenly slumped in the chair he was in, groaning as he held a hand up to his head.

"Wh-where am I?" he asked, looking over at Cody. "And who are you?"

"It's alright friend. My name is Cody. You're in Knothole Village. Welcome back to the land of the free minded," said Cody, giving him a smile.

"That's right…Eggman…The things he made me do…Made all of us do…" said the robian.

"I know. It's over now," said Cody. Suddenly, Nicole started beeping furiously, causing both of them to look over at the small computer. "That doesn't sound good." Right after Cody uttered the words, smoke started to emit from the small computer. "Okay, that's _definitely_ not good!" said Cody as he reached over and picked up Nicole, shutting her down as fast as he could remember how to since Sally had only ever shown him once in the past.

"What is that thing?" asked the robian.

"That might have been our only way of freeing the other robians going up in smoke," said Cody as he turned and ran out of the hut, instantly taking to the air in the direction of Sally's hut.

* * *

"I don't know Sal…The way she said it makes me think she's known who I was before the whole ordeal in Emerald City even happened," said Sonic as he sat in a chair across from Sally who was seated on her hut's sofa.

"I wish I had an answer for you Sonic, I really do," said Sally as she sipped on a mug of coffee as she sat on her sofa. Sonic had just finished filling her in about what he had been going over in his mind for the last two weeks. "You told me Tikal's spirit lived inside the Master Emerald, right?"

"That's what she said," said Sonic.

"Do you think she saw you through the Master Emerald whenever Eggman stole it from Floating Island last year?" asked Sally.

"Maybe…But then she'd have known Knuckles and Tails as well," said Sonic. He crossed his arms over his chest, frowning as he lowered his head. "No…Something else is going on, the question is what?"

"Well, I'm open to suggestions," said Sally. The two sat in silence for several minutes before Sonic gave a sigh, causing Sally to look over at him. "Think of something?"

"Perhaps, though it's a long shot, I'll be the first to admit it," said Sonic.

"What?" asked Sally.

"I think I want to go visit that ancient temple that was in the jungle around Emerald City again. I first ran into Tikal at that place. She then led me into the temple and showed me the mural of Chaos in his final form. What if there was some clue there as to why Tikal sounded like she knew me. Knuckles told me it was her home in the past according to the visions he saw," said Sonic.

"You're right. Definitely a long shot," said Sally, not holding any real belief that Sonic's answers could be found there. "Still, if you think you need to go back there, I'll go with you."

"You don't have to Sal," said Sonic.

"You're right, I don't. But I want to," said Sally. She got up off the sofa and walked over to Sonic, kneeling down next to him. "Sonic, I've been your friend for over a decade. You've saved my life countless times, never expecting anything in return. The least I can do is try and help you figure this mystery out. Besides, we'll need Nicole to read any of the hieroglyphs we find." Hearing this, Sonic closed his eyes and smiled.

"Sal, you know I'd do anything for you. And I know you'll always have my back," said Sonic, opening his eyes and looking over at her. "I know with the two of us working on this, we'll figure it out."

"Sally!" shouted Cody's voice from just outside the door a split second before the robian began to pound on the front door of Sally's hut.

"It's open Cody," said Sally as she stood back up, the door immediately flying open as Cody ran into the hut.

"What's got you all worked up?" asked Sonic, getting up out of the chair.

"I think Nicole just got fried," said Cody, holding up the small computer which was still emitting a small amount of smoke.

"Oh my gosh what happened?" asked Sally as she got up and ran over to Cody, taking the computer from him.

"I have no idea…One second she's finishing freeing a robian, the next she started beeping like crazy and then smoke started to come out of her," said Cody. Sally carefully removed Nicole's covering, looking over the delicate machinery on the inside of her.

"Perfect…she's going to need some serious repairs," said Sally as she looked over the damage.

"Give her to Tails. He should have no problem fixing her," suggested Sonic.

"He's never worked on her before," said Sally, looking over at Sonic.

"I don't think it matters much. He's a lot smarter than anyone I know. He's technical skills surpassed yours a while ago," said Sonic. Sighing, Sally nodded her head.

"Alright. I suppose he's earned the chance to work on something this important," said Sally.

"I think so too," said Cody.

"Okay. So I'll hand Nicole over to Tails and have him get to work on her, but that leaves us waiting on her to be repaired before we leave," said Sally.

"Leave? Where you two going?" asked Cody, confused by Sally's statement.

"Little trip down south. Just for a couple days, no big deal," said Sonic. Cody got a grin on his face, half closing his eyes as he looked at the two of them.

"No big deal, eh?" asked Cody.

"It's not like that Cody," said Sally, blushing as she punched the robian in the arm, causing him to throw up his arms in defense.

"Okay okay! I was just joking," said Cody. He then turned and started walking out of the hut. "Be sure to bring back some souvenirs from wherever it is your guys are going to." As soon as he was gone, Sonic turned towards Sally.

"I don't like waiting on Nicole to get repaired. I'd like to get my answers as soon as I can," said Sonic, sitting back down.

"Sonic, we don't even know there are answers there to get," said Sally.

"You're probably right, but I need to know for sure as soon as possible. Otherwise my mind won't stop thinking about it,' said Sonic.

"Do you think Knuckles would be able to help us out?" asked Sally.

"Maybe, but I don't think he even knows how to read the language. His priorities have always been the Master Emerald and Floating Island first and foremost. History seems to have taken a back seat with him," said Sonic.

"What about Angel?" asked Sally.

"Nah. I don't want to bother her over something like this. She has enough on her plate at the moment. Besides, we have no clue where at on the southern continent she is," said Sonic. Suddenly, he arched his eyebrows as a thought passed through his mind. "Still, she probably knows someone in her village that could help us out."

"Sonic, we don't even know where her village is for sure, just that it's located in a jungle on the southern continent somewhere," said Sally.

"I'll bet Knuckles knows where it's at," said Sonic, getting up from the chair and heading for the door. "I'll give him a call, see if he knows. If he does, I'll call Angel and see who she thinks the best candidate would be to take with us." With that, he opened the door and walked out, leaving a sighing Sally behind as she realized his mind was set and there was no changing it.

* * *

"You seriously want me to fix Nicole?" asked Tails, the stunned look on his face not hidden at all as he looked at Sally from his stool in the back of his workshop.

"You think you can?" asked Sally, holding out the small computer to the young fox.

"Well yeah…But I mean…You never wanted anyone but yourself to work on her," said Tails as he took the computer from Sally.

"That's true. But I'm leaving with Sonic to go down south and we need her in working order to get the robians free of the roboticizer's influence. And honestly, you showed me that you aren't a kid anymore except in age. I think that deserves some form of trust with important things," said Sally. Tails couldn't help but smile when he heard Sally say that to him. In his wildest dreams he never would've expected Sally to entrust something of this importance to him.

"I'll have her fixed in no time. Hopefully you're back the next day or two after I finish her repairs. I'd like to get back to work on the Tornado," said Tails, returning to his workbench as he sat Nicole on it.

"I thought you finished your modifications of the plane?" asked Sally.

"Well, yes and no. I'm finished with its jet mode, but I'm in the process of making a walker mode for it as well," said Tails, turning back to face Sally.

"A 'walker mode'?" asked Sally, arching an eyebrow.

"Yep. Something we can rely on if there's a fight on the ground that requires a little heavy firepower," said Tails.

"Will it need a Chaos Emerald to make it work at peak performance like the jet mode?" she asked.

"Not for the basic armament, but the Cyclone Laser still needs one to function. Which Comet said she'd help me with a special project in that regard," said Tails.

"Why do you need her help with something mechanical?" asked Sally. Tails only grinned widely.

"Oh it's not mechanical. But I'm not telling cause I want to surprise everyone with what the two of us are cooking up," said Tails.

"Alright. I trust you know what you're doing," said Sally. She then gave Tails a smug grin. "Just don't blow up your workshop working on these things."

"I won't," said Tails, returning his attention to the workbench and Nicole.

"Okay. I need to get ready to leave. If you need anything, Cody and Lily said they'd be happy to assist," said Sally.

"I'll remember that," said Tails as he began searching out the tools he'd need. Sally gave a soft sigh as she watched the excited twin tailed fox, knowing that Nicole was in good hands and wondering how she hadn't seen Tails grow up in the last couple of years. She then turned and walked out of the workshop, heading in the direction of Sonic's hut.

* * *

"So you need someone that can read our ancient language," said Angel's hologram to Sonic, her image being projected by a holocommunicator resting on a coffee table in Sonic's hut. Comet was in the hut with the blue hedgehog, the violet chao wanting to talk with the green-eyed, pink furred echidna as well. "Well, truth is barely anyone in my village still knows how to read it. But I can think of someone who should be able to help you out. Kirrand Moonglow."

"Kirrand?" asked Comet, a look of surprise crossing her face.

"Who's Kirrand?" asked Sonic, looking at Angel's hologram with a questioning gaze.

"My best friend I had all but forgotten about till I returned to my home in this timeline," said Angel. "The memories that seeing her brought back…All those fun times when I was really young and the pain of losing her and everyone else in a single night…" said Angel, a look of pain crossing her face. But it quickly faded as she returned her attention to the present. "Anyways, she studied the ancient language when we were kids. She loved learning about our history. I'm assuming she still does today. She should be able to help you."

"Alright. I'll tell Knuckles who he needs to talk with. Hopefully she'll help us out," said Sonic.

"Oh I don't think you'll have any problem convincing her to help. She wanted to meet you after I told her everything that happened in my timeline," said Angel.

"I see. By the way, where are you at down south at the moment?" asked Sonic.

"Yes. I am wondering that too mistress," said Comet.

"I'm actually following the west coast of the southern continent at the moment," said Angel.

"Anything of note out that direction?" asked Sonic.

"A couple human settlements along the coast. Fishing villages mostly, though I've heard there is some kind of island military base built by the humans about three weeks walking distance away from here. It's near some big city called Zephyr City," said Angel.

"You're joking," said Sonic. He closed his eyes and chuckled, shaking his head. "Tails was invited there by the president of the human nation to receive some kind of medal for saving Emerald City from Eggman's attack in exactly three weeks from today. Not that the city survived very long after he saved it, but that's beside the point. Sal and I are going with him."

"No kidding? Well, I'll have to make it point to stop by that city and hopefully meet up with you guys there," said Angel.

"It'd be nice. We haven't seen you in person since you left," said Sonic.

"Can I come along too?" asked Comet, looking up at Sonic.

"Don't see why not," said Sonic.

"I'd appreciate you bringing Comet with you. I could use some alone time with her," said Angel.

"Sure thing. We'll set up the specifics when me and Sal get back home," said Sonic.

* * *

"So…Think you can help him out?" asked Knuckles, looking across the table at the two echidnas that were seated on the other side.

"If the person who saved Angel's life and brought her back to me wants me to help with something as simple as reading our ancient text to him, you don't have to ask me twice," said the sixteen year old orange female echidna, the younger of the two. She wore a rich purple tube-top with a matching pair of shorts, her feet sporting a pair of yellow shoes. Her six dreadlocks were cut shorter than most echidnas were, only coming down to about four inches below the base of her neck, each one sporting a small golden band in the middle of each dreadlock. Completing her look was bright green hair that was cut fairly short and light blue eyes.

"Don't get ahead of yourself young lady. I'm the one making the call here," said the girl's purpled furred father, Galrok. He looked similar to Knuckles, only taller and older without the white crescent birth mark that denoted Knuckles as belonging to the Floating Island's Guardian bloodline.

"But dad, this is important," said Kirrand, looking back at her father.

"I can go with her if you think she'd be in danger," said another female voice coming from the next room.

"Not a big fan of you ease dropping Mira, you know that," said Galrok, rolling his eyes. He was used to this problem at this point, the aquatic android's hearing being much sharper than others coupled with her inability to not pay attention to everything that was said in the household.

"Sorry. You know I don't do it on purpose," said the aqua skinned android as she walked into the room, her prehensile dolphin like tail swishing slowly back and forth. In her hands was a bouquet of freshly picked wild flowers she had just returned with to be the centerpiece of the dining table that night.

"I know. Still doesn't mean I have to like you doing it," said Galrok.

"Come on dad. You know I've wanted to meet Sonic ever since Angel told me about him," said Kirrand.

"Sir, I can assure you that she won't be in safer hands," said Knuckles. Galrok took in a deep breath, then sighed heavily.

"Alright…I guess since you seem to have a vested interest in helping this outsider, I'll allow it. But I'm holding you responsible if anything happens to my daughter Knuckles," said Galrok.

"Thank you dad!" cried Kirrand, getting out of her chair and hugging her father.

"So do you want me to go with her?" asked Mira as she reached up into a cupboard to get a vase to put the flowers in.

"No…no it's okay Mira. I need to let my daughter have some responsibility at some point. She's getting up there in age after all. I can't baby her forever," said Galrok.

"Then it's decided. We're supposed to meet up with them tomorrow morning on Floating Island and then they'll take you down to the ruins below with them," said Knuckles.

"Sounds good," said Kirrand.

* * *

The hour was nearing ten o'clock at night, the sun having already set over an hour ago. Most of the village of Knothole was getting ready for sleep, the lanterns on the walkways starting to go out one by one as their daily fuel reached its end. Yet one light endured at the end of a small pathway leading towards to the south end of the village. The light was coming from none other than Tails' workshop, the young fox still working on the repairs of Nicole. He had made progress during the day, having just finished fixing her speech software and audio sensors so that she could respond verbally to commands and hear what people were asking her to perform.

"Alright…Last wire in place and…there!" said Tails, looking up for the first time from his work in the last two hours as he replaced Nicole's coverings. "Well, still haven't gotten her holographic software or her screen fixed yet, but that'll keep for tomorrow." He then sat back on his stool, giving a sigh. The day had been long in his book. Nicole was more complex than most of the stuff he had ever worked on, but he had managed to fix a fair amount of her by this point. A frown crossed his face as he realized he needed to boot her up and test the fixes to make sure they even were done right. Leaning back over the workbench, he punched in the reboot sequence into the small computer. Several seconds ticked by before the power indicator light lit up. But what happened next took Tails completely by surprise.

"Hello? Who's there? I can't see anything. It's completely dark," said Nicole, startling the young fox as Nicole had never before called out to anyone, not even Sally, without being prompted to do so.

"Uh…Hello Nicole…" said Tails cautiously.

"Tails? Is that you? I recognize your voice," said Nicole. Now completely confused, Tails began to wonder if he had screwed up something when he had been doing his repairs.

"Yeah…It's me. Can you do me a favor and run a systems diagnostic check real fast?" asked Tails.

"Sure thing. Running scan now," said Nicole as she started to beep randomly. Even this response had the young fox puzzled. Nicole sounded nothing like her usual "simple response to an inquiry" self. _What in the world is going on? It's like her AI is completely different now,_ thought Tails. "Scan complete. All systems are operating normally except for visual sensors, screen, and holographic interface." _Which is what it's supposed to be…So what the heck is going on?_ asked Tails to himself.

"Okay…So I didn't mess up fixing you so far," said Tails.

"Fixing me? Is that why I can't see anything?" asked Nicole.

"Yes. You overloaded earlier today and fried a lot of your circuits and wiring. I just finished fixing your audio attributes and was checking to see if they were fixed properly," said Tails.

"I think they're working just fine. I can hear you and obviously you hear me," said Nicole.

"I agree. But you're acting very strangely for being fixed," said Tails.

"Strange how?" asked Nicole.

"You don't even realize it yourself?" asked Tails, a little surprised Nicole didn't notice any problems with herself.

"Apparently I don't," said Nicole.

"Alright. Let's take a step back and start over. What's the last command you were given?" asked Tails. Here Nicole paused for several seconds before answering.

"Unknown. I don't recall what I was doing before I overloaded. In fact, I don't recall any commands I've recently received, though I remember everyone I've ever interacted with during that time…Strange," said Nicole.

"You don't remember any of the commands you've been given recently? How far back can you remember the last command?"

"The last command given to me was approximately a month ago," said Nicole. _Which is right around the time we started using her for freeing the robians' minds, _thought Tails.

"So do you remember anything from the last month?" asked Tails.

"Well…I remember seeing mobians of all kinds walking around a vast city, though the perspective changed constantly. Cross referencing with my holo records indicates that the city was Mobotropolis. I remember there were all kinds of things to see, smell, and hear. The smell thing is odd though considering I have no olfactory sensors, yet I know what each object smelled like," said Nicole.

"Interesting…Tell me, do you have similar memories?" asked Tails, having a theory pop into his head, but not sure if it was even close to being accurate.

"Yes actually…Of all kinds of experiences that I know I never could've been able to have," said Nicole. "Now I'm getting scared…I don't know what's going on." _She's scared? But she's not supposed to have emotions,_ thought Tails.

"Don't get scared Nicole. I think I know what these 'experiences' were that you saw, though it's just a theory," said Tails.

"What is it?" asked Nicole.

"Well, you've been running a program through your systems that purges the roboticizer's influence on robians," said Tails.

"Cross checking my programs does show that such a program exists in my files," said Nicole. "But that doesn't answer my question."

"I'm getting there," said Tails. "My theory is these 'memories' you have are actually ones you've seen in the robians AI matrixes when you've been linked to them. Their brains being essentially mechanical now lets you interface with them, allowing you to see their thoughts and memories."

"Hmm…A sound theory. It would explain why I have so many different ones and yet how they're all similar in some way," said Nicole.

"What I can't figure out is your sudden personality change," said Tails.

"What do you mean?" asked Nicole.

"I mean you carrying on a conversation like this is something you've never done before, not even with Sally," said Tails.

"Really?" asked Nicole. She paused for several seconds before speaking up again. "If what you say is true, then something more than just a simple overload obviously happened to me today," said Nicole.

"Have any theories, cause I frankly don't have one at the moment," said Tails.

"Neither do I unfortunately," said Nicole.

"Either way, it's late and I need to be getting to bed. This mystery can wait till tomorrow," said Tails, giving a soft yawn.

"Very well. I will try and formulate a theory while I'm in sleep mode," said Nicole. "Hopefully I'll have one by tomorrow morning."

"Sounds good. I'll see you tomorrow morning," said Tails as he turned off the light and walked out of the workshop. But instead of heading in the direction of his hut once he reached the end of the pathway leading into the main area of the village, he instead took a turn towards Cody and Lily's hut, wanting to let them know what was going on and see if they had any suggestions.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The morning sun was just finishing rising above the horizon as Knuckles and Kirrand stood on the beach on the southern side of Floating Island. The duo gazed out into the cloud filled skies, searching with both eyes and ears for the arrival of the Tornado. _Funny we should meet them here at the exact spot Sonic and Tails landed on the island almost two years ago,_ thought Knuckles to himself, recalling that fateful day all too clearly. He couldn't help but smile slightly at the thought of his and Sonic's first encounter. He had bested Sonic in that meeting, managing to steal all the Chaos Emeralds from a surprised Sonic's possession before he had known what hit him. Thus began the game of cat and mouse between the three mobians that eventually led Knuckles to realize the truth a little too late. But thanks to Sonic, the crisis was averted and the Master Emerald was saved.

"I can't believe I'm this nervous," said Kirrand. She then looked over at Knuckles. "Do you think it's wrong to be this nervous?"

"Why are you nervous? He's just a mobian like you or me," said Knuckles, looking over at the younger echidna.

"I know…But for some reason it feels like I'm meeting someone special. Like the first time I met you all those years ago," said Kirrand.

"You _do_ realize I hate being looked upon as some kind of holy person by our people, right?" asked Knuckles.

"I did when you told me that a few years ago," said Kirrand. "But when I first met you, I believed you were someone to be revered. That's the way my parents had taught me to act towards the Guardian," said Kirrand.

"Yeah, well, my family might be the 'Guardians' of Floating Island and the Master Emerald, but as far as I'm concerned I'm no different than any other echidna aside from the fact I'm honor bound to guard this place," said Knuckles. Suddenly, a faint noise could be heard coming from somewhere off the coast of the island, returning both echidnas' attention to the edge of the sandy beach. About twenty seconds later, as the noise continued to grow louder, a blue object pierced the clouds surrounding the island.

"Is that them?" asked Kirrand, not recognizing the object at all.

"Yep. Still can't believe Tails fixed that plane up in no time flat," said Knuckles.

"I've never seen a plane before, only heard about them from the occasional explorer that happened onto our village," said Kirrand. She then squinted as she gazed at the plane, suddenly realizing that someone was riding on the top of the wings. "Is…Is someone riding on top of that thing?"

"That'd be Sonic. He loves riding that plane on the wings," said Knuckles. The two watched as the Tornado angled itself for an approach further down the beach, then dropped till the landing gear wheels touched down. The bi-plane slowed down as the two echidnas started to head in its direction, coming to a full stop by the time the two reached it.

"How'd I do?" asked Sally, looking up at Sonic as she started to unbuckle herself from the pilot's seat.

"Pretty good actually for your first time flying the Tornado," said Sonic, looking over his shoulder at the ground squirrel. He then looked out in front of the plane and down at the two echidnas. "Hope we didn't keep you guys waiting for too long."

"Not really. We've only been here for about ten minutes give or take," said Knuckles as Sonic hopped down off the wing and landed in front of the two echidnas, causing Kirrand to take a step back without thinking, which Sonic immediately noticed.

"This Kirrand?" asked Sonic, jerking a thumb in her direction as he looked over at Knuckles.

"Yeah. She's a little…nervous to meet you," said Knuckles, looking over at the girl. Sonic merely smiled and looked back over at Kirrand.

"Hey. No need to be nervous about meeting me. I'm no different than anyone else," said Sonic.

"That's what I told her," said Knuckles as Sally walked up next to Sonic.

"I'm sorry Sonic…It's just…After everything Angel told me about you, I find it a little hard not to believe your just like a normal mobian," said Kirrand. At this, Sonic's grin only widened as he closed his eyes and shook his head.

"I'm not sure what all Angel told you, but if she told you I saved her timeline from Leviathan then she's not telling you the whole truth," said Sonic as he looked back at her.

"What do you mean? She told me you beat Leviathan," said Kirrand.

"Yes, I did take on Leviathan in her timeline, but I never beat him. All I managed to do was stall him. It was the sacrifice of another friend and Angel wriggling free of his grasp that ultimately doomed Leviathan and saved her timeline," said Sonic. He then placed his hands on Kirrand's shoulders. "So don't let anyone tell you I'm someone special. I'm just a hedgehog that loves to run fast, has an adventurous attitude towards life, and also has a knack for finding trouble and saving the day from said trouble."

"More like trouble seems to find you," said Sally, to which Sonic merely shrugged his shoulders at.

"Either way is fine with me, so long as I manage to stay a step ahead of the trouble," said Sonic as he looked over at Kirrand. "So then, let's actually greet each other, alright?" He then reached out his right hand towards Kirrand. "I'm Sonic Hedgehog. It's a pleasure to meet you." Kirrand returned the smile and reached up with her right hand, grasping Sonic's and giving it a firm shake.

"Kirrand Moonglow, and the pleasure is all mine," said Kirrand. She then released her grip and turned to Sally. "And you must be Sally Acorn. Knuckles told me you'd be joining us. Good to meet you as well."

"Same," said Sally, giving a smile of her own.

"Alright. Now that the greetings are out of the way, let's get down to those ruins," said Sonic.

"Already?" asked Sally, looking over at Sonic, who looked back at her.

"Sal, you know this has been bugging me for a while now. I'd like to get this done as fast as possible," said Sonic.

"If you want to go now, I don't have a problem with it, but can I ask for one small thing first Sonic?" asked Kirrand.

"What's that?" asked Sonic. Here Kirrand got a sheepish grin on her face as she looked away from him.

"Well, this might sound silly, but…I was wondering if you'd mind…you know…running around this part of the island with me?" asked Kirrand.

"You mean carry you while I run?" asked Sonic.

"Yeah," said Kirrand. "I know it's stupid, but hearing Angel describe it made me want to experience it myself."

"I'd be happy to do that," said Sonic, walking over and scooping Kirrand up in his arms. "How fast you want me to go?"

"As fast as you can," said Kirrand as she wrapped her arms around Sonic's neck. Sonic looked back at Knuckles and Sally, a grin on his face.

"Be back in about ten seconds. I should be able to make a lap around the outer edge of the island in that amount of time," said Sonic.

"Have fun Kirrand," said Sally as Sonic faced forward again. He then shot from his spot, a sonic boom sounding as he broke the sound barrier instantly and vanished from view a split second later.

"He loves showing off, doesn't he?" asked Knuckles, shaking his head.

"That he does," said Sally. True to his word, ten seconds later another sonic boom sounded as Sonic skidded to a stop a few yards away from the two of them, a somewhat shaken Kirrand in his arms. Slowly letting her back to her feet, he noticed she had been affected by the trip.

"Hey…You okay Kirrand? Did I go too fast?" asked Sonic. Slowly, Kirrand shook her head, a grin forming on her face.

"No…That was fantastic!" she cried. "I can't believe we covered that whole distance that fast! Angel wasn't kidding about how fast you are!"

"You'll find no one faster," said Sonic.

"Okay. I'm ready to go now," said Kirrand as she calmed back down.

"Alright. Let's get back into the Tornado and head down there," said Sonic.

* * *

"Something is definitely wrong with Nicole, I'm just not sure what," said Tails as he led Lily down the pathway leading to his workshop. The brown haired, magenta furred hedgehog, dressed in her usual wardrobe of a light blue t-shirt and cut-off blue jeans, had wanted to see just what the problem was with Nicole after Tails had described it to her and Cody the night before. Cody, however, was too busy with helping the construction efforts of the village and had decided to let his wife do the investigating. Reaching the workshop, the two ventured inside to see the small computer still resting on the workbench in the back.

"I'm back Nicole, and I brought someone with me," said Tails. Instantly the power indicator light on Nicole switched from its sleep mode to on.

"Good morning Tails. I'm curious who it is you brought with you," said Nicole. While Tails wasn't surprised by what Nicole had just said, a look of surprise had crossed Lily's face.

"I know you said she talks like a normal person, but I didn't realize it was to this degree," said Lily.

"Lily Griffor! Always a pleasure to hear your voice. How have you been?" asked Nicole. Realizing she might have just accidently offended Nicole and unsure how to respond, Lily glanced down at Tails to see him looking back up at her, him giving a gesture to her to answer the small computer back.

"Just…fine Nicole," said Lily. "I wanted to see how you were doing."

"Better now that I've had time to think upon recent events," said Nicole. Tails perked up when he heard her say that.

"Really? You have a theory about why you're acting this way?" asked Tails, walking over to his stool and sitting down in front of the small computer, Lily walking up behind him.

"Yes, granted it's just a theory," said Nicole.

"Well, don't leave us in suspense," said Lily.

"Very well. I believe my AI matrix has undergone a…transformation of sorts," said Nicole.

"What kind of transformation?" asked Tails.

"I surmise that after being exposed to all of the memories and thoughts of dozens of robian minds, I integrated some of these into my AI matrix, as per your own theory Tails. As it was fed all these new 'experiences', it started to evolve. Eventually, this evolution hit a critical mass, resulting in my overload. However, at the same time it caused me to become self-aware, something that wasn't supposed to be part of my design," said Nicole.

"Self-aware? You mean like how the mecha bots are fully aware of themselves and what they say and do?" asked Lily.

"Exactly," said Nicole. "How my AI matrix evolved to this new plane of existence and didn't simply implode in on itself is beyond me, but it's the best theory I have at this point."

"It's possible. Cody mentioned to me that in Angel's timeline, the original mecha bot Silver Sonic gained self-awareness at some point before he destroyed him," said Lily.

"So there's more than just my case of this happening? Then I'd say the theory holds up," said Nicole.

"I agree. Man is it going to be strange with you being self-aware," said Tails.

"Strange how?" asked Nicole.

"Sorry, bad choice of words," said Tails, realizing he had just offended the small computer. "I just mean it'll take some getting used to. Either way, I still need to fix the rest of your systems. So you're gonna have to shut down for a while till I can fix them."

"I don't like the solitude of being powered down, but if I must, I will," said Nicole.

"Thanks. I promise I'll fix you as fast as I can," said Tails.

"Thank you," said Nicole. Her power indicator light then turned off, signaling she had powered down.

"Can she still hear us?" asked Lily in a whisper.

"Nah. Her sensors aren't being powered right now," said Tails, turning around to face the hedgehog.

"So…What do we do with her now?" asked Lily.

"Nothing I think. I'll fix her and we'll go from there. I'd rather wait until Sally comes back to make any decisions," said Tails. Lily nodded slowly at hearing this.

"Yeah…I agree. She is Sally's computer after all," said Lily. She then turned and started towards the door of the workshop. "I'll leave you to it then."

"Later Lily," said Tails as he returned his attention towards Nicole, going over in his head what tools he'd need to get out to start working on her holographic interface and screen.

* * *

"You really fought and beat the legendary creature that destroyed most of our race in a single night?" asked Kirrand, not hiding her shock as Sonic finished telling her the events that had lead them to search out the ancient echidna city and the temple at its center. The trio had made their way into the jungle after having landed the Tornado at the Mystic Ruins Airport, or at least what remained of it. The humans had abandoned it after Emerald City's destruction, having deemed the airport pointless now that almost everyone that used the airport had no reason to go to it anymore.

"Yep. And then Tikal and Chaos vanished, leaving me with that one phrase to ponder over for the last two weeks," said Sonic.

"To be honest, I've never seen something bother him this much," said Sally, looking over at Kirrand.

"Really? Maybe it was nothing at all," suggested Kirrand.

"It could very well be, but I have to find out for sure," said Sonic as the three of them came upon the giant clearing in the jungle where the ancient temple rested.

"Oh wow…I'd heard stories about this place, but I never thought I'd get to see it," said Kirrand, taking in the sight before her. Hearing this, Sonic frowned and looked back at the young echidna.

"Speaking of which, why doesn't Knuckles know anything about your people's stories and history? He didn't even know who Chaos was," said Sonic.

"He's…isolated from us," said Kirrand, looking down at the ground. "He's only visited our village about once a year, and even then he doesn't stay for long. It's not out of any bad blood or anything, he's just dedicated to his duty. Plus he doesn't like how most of the other echidnas treat him like he's the greatest thing since sliced bread."

"Yeah. I know how dedicated he can be. And I remember how Angel reacted to seeing him just before she left Knothole, as well as Knuckles response to her acting that way," said Sonic, softening his frown as he returned his attention forward as they walked into the clearing.

"Even if we don't find any answers for you here Sonic, it'll be interesting to see what all the ancient echidnas left behind inside this temple," said Sally.

"I don't really care what they left unless it's something that can answer my question," said Sonic, causing Sally to frown.

"Well, no need to be a grump about it," said Sally as they reached the foot of the temple. Looking up at the entrance above, Sonic recalled his first meeting with Tikal, though he hadn't known it was her at the time. Taking a deep breath and giving a sigh, he started walking up the steps leading to the entrance, the two girls following close behind. As they walked inside, the same torches that had been lit two weeks ago were still burning bright from their spots on the walls.

"Is someone living here?" asked Sally, looking at the unnaturally lit torches.

"Nah. Something keeps these torches burning for thousands of years, or at least that's what Knuckles told me about similar torches we saw in the pyramid on Floating Island when me and Tails were in there almost two years ago," said Sonic.

"Really? What could burn for that long?" asked Sally.

"Promethium does," said Kirrand, causing both of them to look back at the echidna girl.

"What's that?" asked Sonic.

"A rare metal that we haven't used in a long time. Echidnas used to use a small stick of it inside of torches to keep them lit when exploring dark areas. Apparently they used it to keep their ancient places lit as well," said Kirrand.

"I've never heard of this metal," said Sally. She then looked up at one of the torches. "How do you ignite it and put it out?"

"Same as any other flammable object as far as I know," said Kirrand. "But it takes ages for the metal to deteriorate from the flames. Probably why our ancestors used it for this purpose."

"Can we skip the science lesson?" asked Sonic, annoyance in his voice. Realizing he had snapped at them, he turned back around to face them. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright Sonic. I know you're anxious to get your answers," said Sally. She then reached up and plucked one of the torches from its resting place. "Let's go." The three of them started to walk deeper into the temple. As they came to the same crossroad that Sonic remembered turning left at, he pointed down the left hallway.

"Tikal went down this way with me. I remember seeing several murals and stuff like that on the walls in the same room I saw Chaos' mural," said Sonic. He then started walking in that direction, the two girls following after him. As they entered the room, the light of the torch chased away the shadows, revealing the murals that lined the walls of the large room. "My guess is one of these might have the answer I'm after."

"Then let's start looking," said Sally. The three began to examine the murals one by one, Kirrand reading the ancient text that was inscribed below each mural. Various scenes adorned the murals, ranging from simple family histories to small legends told amongst the surviving echidnas. But after examining all the murals, nothing jumped out at them to give them a clue to Sonic's question.

"Okay…So none of these stories gave us any leads," sighed Sonic, closing his eyes and shaking his head.

"Well, there was another direction we could've taken back at that crossroad," said Kirrand, pointing back the way they had come. "Maybe there're more murals down that way."

"Maybe. Suppose there's no harm in checking," said Sonic. The trio ventured back to the intersection of the crossroads and started down the other path. As they exited the small hallway, they came into a room that was very different than the other one. In this one, various large ornate figures lined the walls of the room, each crafted of solid gold with jewels for eyes, each one depicting an ancient echidna in various poses ranging from some simply standing to ones engaged in martial battle with various weapons.

"Wow! Look at all the statues," said Kirrand, running over to get a better look at them.

"Well, they're pretty, but they don't have any clues for us to go on," said Sonic, leaning up against the wall of the hallway. Sally walked around him and into the room. Spying a slot to set the torch in on the wall, she walked over and placed the eon burning object in the slot. Without warning, the floor vanished out from underneath the two girls' feet, the pair crying out as they started to fall into the dark abyss below them. Instantly springing to action, Sonic leapt down after them, bounding off the walls as he closed the gap with Sally almost instantly as he grabbed onto her arm.

"Get a good grip from behind Sal!" shouted Sonic as he pulled her to him, Sally flipping around his body to get ahold of his neck from behind. Looking back down, Sonic spied Kirrand a few yards forward and below him. As he reached the side of the wall once more, he pushed off as hard as he could towards her, closing the distance quickly as he reached out and grabbed her by the arm as well, pulling her into his arms. "Hold on girls!" he cried as he continued to bound off the walls, falling further into the pit. _This is bad. I can't reverse our fall carrying them, especially with the walls being this smooth. I just pray there's not a spiked pit at the bottom of this thing,_ thought Sonic. Finally, after about thirty seconds of falling, Sonic spied the bottom of the pit. To his relief, nothing but solid stone floor with a few torches burning on the walls was waiting to greet them. As he landed on the stone floor, he closed his eyes and gave a sigh of relief. "Everyone alright?" he asked.

"Yeah…A little shaken, but I'm fine," said Sally as she released her grip on Sonic's neck. "You okay Kirrand?"

"I guess I am…" said Kirrand as Sonic set her back on the ground. "What happened?"

"That dumb room was booby trapped is what happened," said Sonic, looking back up. But only darkness greeted his gaze, causing him to sigh. "I doubt we can get out the same way we got in."

"Why would the ancient echidnas booby trap their own temple?" asked Sally.

"Not a clue Sal," said Sonic.

"Hey guys…I found the way out, but…I don't like what I'm reading on the door," said Kirrand. Sally and Sonic turned back towards where Kirrand was standing next to a stone slab door, ancient echidna text scrawled over it in a much bigger text than what they had seen under the murals.

"What's it say?" asked Sally.

"It says, 'Beware, for you have entered the depths of the temple that hides our civilization's greatest secret. Beyond this door you will find three trials that will determine if you are worthy. Should you fail, you will perish. If you should succeed, you will gain the knowledge of knowing the truth behind the Fall, as well as our world's greatest threat.'" said Kirrand.

"That's a little…cryptic," said Sonic.

"I don't like this guys," said Kirrand, shaking her head as she backed away from the door. She then turned towards Sonic. "Are you sure we can't go back the way we came?"

"The walls are too smooth," said Sonic, lowering and shaking his head. "Bounding off them to catch you guys was easy…Going back up is next to impossible."

"So that's it then," said Sally, walking up next to the stone door, placing both hands on it. "We have no choice but to try and survive these trials and find a way out."

"As much as I don't want to put you guys in danger, I agree," said Sonic.

"I…I can't do it…" said Kirrand, her face flush with fear. Sonic turned to face her, drawing the echidna's gaze.

"I know it's scary Kirrand. Facing danger is always scary. But right now you have to be stronger than your fear," said Sonic. He then took her hands into his. "Just remember you aren't facing this danger alone. I'm here and so is Sal. We won't let anything happen to you." Slowly, Kirrand nodded her head, her fearful look vanishing somewhat.

"Okay…Okay…I'll try and be brave. If Angel could face all those dangers she did without succumbing to her fear, I can too," said Kirrand.

"That's right. Think of how brave Angel is. Let her example be your strength," said Sally, catching Kirrand's attention.

"Alright…I'm ready. Let's go," said Kirrand. Both Sonic and Sally smiled as Sally returned her attention to the door, pushing against it as the door slowly began to swing open. As the light from the outer area illuminated the small room more than the torches were doing at the moment, the three of them stood in stunned silence of what was waiting for them beyond the room.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

As the three mobians stared out of the small room, their eyes took in a sight that they hadn't expected to see. A vegetation of sorts was covering a fair amount of the large room with shallow water pooling in the middle of the room. Stone pillars kept the roof stabilized, each one sporting a lit torch that illuminated the room with a rather large entrance to a hallway on the other side of the room where a warm orange glow was pulsating from further down the hallway.

"How could any plant life survive down here?" asked Kirrand as the trio walked out into the room.

"I'm betting the fire from the torches lets them use their photosynthesis, but the water being here is a little odd," said Sally. Suddenly, a drip noise sounded from the middle of the pool of water, causing the three of them to look over in its direction. They waited silently, waiting to see if their suspicions were correct. About twenty seconds later, they heard another drip and saw the pool ripple, realizing that water was dripping from the ceiling.

"And that's where the water's coming from," said Sonic. Suddenly realizing how far down in the ground they probably were at that point, he gave a frown and looked back at Sally. "Where do you think it's coming from?" Sally merely shrugged her shoulders.

"Could be anything really. An underground lake is the most likely culprit though," she said. By now, Kirrand had wandered over to the entrance to the hallway leading out of the room, intrigued by the glow. Taking one look down it, she suddenly realized what the glow was coming from.

"Uh…Guys. I don't want to alarm anyone, but the hallway's um….on fire," said Kirrand, looking back at the two other mobians. Both of them looked over at her with a confused look on their faces.

"What do you mean, 'on fire'?" asked Sonic as he and Sally walked over to where Kirrand was, glancing down the hallway. But when they glanced down it, nothing but clear stone walls greeted their eyes. "I don't see any fire," said Sonic, looking over at Kirrand with a questioning look. But Sonic's doubt was tossed to the side as suddenly several blocks of the hallway's stone walls quickly jutted out from their resting places, each one ablaze as each covered nearly two-thirds of the passageway. "Never mind." The blocks stayed in place for several seconds before they randomly retreated back into their spots in the wall. The three waited and watched till only ten seconds had passed before different blocks emerged from the walls, each one of them also blazing with fire.

"How are the rocks on fire?" asked Kirrand before another, more important thought crossed her mind. "Never mind that, how do we get past them doing that?"

"I'm guessing this is the first trial," said Sally. She then noticed a small amount of ancient text craved into the stone wall next to the passageway's entrance. "Hey Kirrand. Can you read this?" she asked, pointing at the script.

"I should be able to," said Kirrand, walking over to look over the text. A few seconds later, she turned back around to face them. "All it says is 'The Trial of Speed and Agility'."

"So that would explain the passageway's setup. You apparently have to be fast enough to get to the other side before the blocks come back out of the walls," said Sally.

"Man…The ancient echidnas don't mess around, do they?" said Sonic. Curling his hands into fists, a frown etched its way across his face. "We should go for it."

"Sonic, we don't know how long the hallway is. They could come back out before we reach the other side," said Kirrand. Sonic only grinned as he looked over at Kirrand.

"Trust me. This trial won't get the better of my speed," said Sonic.

"I trust you Sonic," said Sally, walking up next to him.

"I know you do Sal," he said as he looked over at her. He then glanced over at Kirrand. "But we won't make it through this place if we have any doubt about us getting out of here alive."

"I can't trust you blindly like Sally can," said Kirrand, a frown etching its way onto her face.

"I'm not asking you to blindly put your trust in me, Kirrand," said Sonic. "How about I get Sal to the other side and then come back for you? Would you feel better knowing I can make it across this passageway?"

"Not really, but I don't think I have much choice in the matter. Either we die to this trial or we wait here and starvation eventually kills us," said Kirrand.

"Or I get us all across here without anyone getting hurt," said Sonic. Kirrand closed her eyes and sighed.

"Alright. I can't do much but trust you to get us through this," said Kirrand. Opening her eyes, she looked over at Sally. "But do you mind if Sonic takes me first? If I'm going to die, I'd rather it be in a single moment than just being trapped in this room."

"It's up to you, but Sonic won't let us die in here," said Sally.

"You know what?" said Kirrand as Sonic scooped her up in his arms. "Part of me believes that, if only just a small bit."

"You ready?" asked Sonic, looking over at Kirrand, who merely nodded in response. As Sonic got set to take off, a thought crossed his mind. "Might help you not freak out if you close your eyes."

"Yeah…That's probably not a bad idea," said Kirrand, closing her eyes tight. Sonic waited at the edge of the passageway, waiting till the next set of blocks had jutted out of the wall. Watching them closely, he got into a set position. As soon as the blocks started to retreat into the wall, he took off, speeding down the hallway as he maneuvered around the blocks as best he could. The passageway was actually curvy, slanting up and down at varying degrees while twisting and turning left and right. Spotting the exit as he reached the bottom of a slope, Sonic poured on the speed, barely missing getting clipped by one of the stone blocks as they sprang forth from the walls again as he ran out of the passageway and into another large room, screeching to a stop just before he went over the edge of a massive pit lined with spikes.

"Whoa!" cried Sonic, barely stopping in time and being glad he was only going about half speed.

"What happened!?" asked Kirrand, her voice filled with fear.

"It's alright. We made it," said Sonic. Kirrand opened her eyes, but as she looked in the direction of the pit, she gasped loudly as the two looked down at the death trap below them. Looking around, Sonic spotted three small pillars barely a few feet in diameter at equal intervals leading to the other side of the nearly hundred foot wide pit. On the far side of the pit was what appeared to be a snake's head carved out of the stone itself, its mouth wide open as if to swallow anyone who dared enter the doorway inside its mouth. Realizing that they'd have to make very precise jumps to get across the pit without falling to get to the door on the other side, he pushed that thought to the back of his mind. _One thing at a time Sonic,_ he thought to himself. Setting Kirrand down, he placed his hands on her arms. "You did good. Now stay here while I get Sal." As he turned to head back up the passageway, he felt Kirrand's hand grasp his wrist, causing him to turn back around.

"I'm sorry I doubted you. I promise I won't act like a scared little child anymore," said Kirrand.

"You didn't. A lot of people wouldn't have had the courage to go first like you did. I'd say that definitely counts for something," said Sonic. Kirrand smiled as she let go of his wrist.

"I'll try and remember that," said Kirrand as Sonic returned his attention to the task of getting back to Sally. Now that he knew the path that the passageway took, he knew it would be much easier going through it. Waiting till the stone blocks were once again retreating into the walls, he took off like a shot, speeding through the passage with ease till he emerged on the far side, once again barely missing getting hit by one of the burning stone blocks.

"Is Kirrand okay?" asked Sally.

"Doing much better than before," said Sonic, a smile on his face as he thought about it. "I think she's finding her courage."

"I was hoping she would," said Sally.

"Ready?" asked Sonic as he pulled Sally up into his arms.

"As I'll ever be," she answered. Sonic took his starting stance as he watched the stone blocks emerge from the walls again. As soon as they started to retract, he took off, racing through the stone passageway as fast as he could while remembering the pit that was at the end of the tunnel. As he spied the exit, he poured on more speed, this time easily beating the stone blocks as they shot forth from the wall right after the pair had made it through the end. But unlike last time, Sonic didn't stop as he sped past a surprised Kirrand and leapt forward, landing on the first pillar that spanned the pit below them. Without even slowing down, Sonic bounded across the other remaining pillars before reaching the far side only a few short seconds later. Landing on the far side, he set Sally back down to her feet, though the ground squirrel looked over at the hedgehog with an angry glare.

"What?" asked Sonic, realizing Sally wasn't happy with him.

"You know you could've _warned_ me that you were going to go over a pit like that as soon as we got out of the tunnel!" she cried at him.

"Sorry. I didn't think it mattered," said Sonic, raising his hands up in defense.

"Whatever. Just bring Kirrand across so we can keep going," said Sally, turning away from Sonic as she walked towards the pit room's exit inside of the serpent's mouth.

"Now's not the time to get mad at me Sal," said Sonic as he turned back towards the pit. But Sally ignored him as she continued walking away from him. Sighing as he shook his head, he started back across the pit, easily making the jumps before landing next to Kirrand.

"I knew you were fast, but I didn't know you could jump like that as well," said Kirrand.

"Had a lot of practice during all the years of our war with Eggman," said Sonic. He then offered his arms to the echidna girl. "Shall we?" Kirrand couldn't help but grin as she let Sonic pick her up in his arms. Turning back towards the pit, Sonic took off for the far side again, once again making the jumps like they were nothing. Landing on safe ground, Sonic let Kirrand back to her feet again, the two of them following after Sally who had reached the exit and was waiting for them with a concerned look on her face.

"What's wrong?" asked Kirrand, noticing the look on Sally's face.

"Nothing…I just know Sonic's not going to like this next room, that's all," said Sally as the other two reached her. Kirrand arched an eyebrow at the response, looking over at Sonic, who just shrugged his shoulders.

"What do you mean?" asked Sonic.

"You'll see," said Sally, walking through the exit to the pit room. Sonic and Kirrand followed after her, the light from several dozen torches lighting up the entire next room which towered several hundred meters high and was easily a city block in diameter. But the size of the room wasn't what sent a chill coursing down Sonic's spine, but rather what was in the room. Aside from the small platform they were now standing on, the room housed a vast underground water reservoir that was dozens of meters deep. Resting at the edge of the small platform in the water was the head of a stone serpent that was several stone blocks in length, stretching nearly fifty feet long and a few feet wide with a segmented body. Located on the back of each segmented section was a handle that could be grasped by both hands with relative ease. At the end of the platform was what looked to be a stone plunger of sorts sticking out of the platform.

"What in the name of Mobius is this trial supposed to test?" asked Sonic.

"I think it says on the floor. Give me a sec," said Kirrand as she spotted some ancient text written into the floor of the platform, kneeling down to get a better look at the text.

"So…Where's the way out?" asked Sally, looking around the room for some sign of the exit.

"Alright…So this is supposed to test our strength and endurance from what it says," said Kirrand.

"Test it how?" asked Sonic. Kirrand gave a small sigh as she looked up at Sonic.

"Well…To start the test, we simply push down on the stone trigger at the end of the platform. We then have ten seconds to get into position on the back of that serpent," said Kirrand.

"Why do we need to get on its back?" asked Sally.

"Because after ten seconds have passed, release valves holding back enough water above us to nearly fill this room will start to flood it," said Kirrand. Sonic visibly shuddered as that thought passed through his mind. "The water will rise too fast to keep up with it merely by swimming. The only way to safely make it to the exit door five hundred yards above us is to ride on the back of the serpent."

"That doesn't sound so bad," said Sonic, a little bit of relief showing on his face. But in contrast, Kirrand's face turned to worry.

"It's not that simple. According to the text, the serpent will circle about the water, diving underwater several yards about every fifty yards or so that the water rises for several seconds," said Kirrand.

"Okay…_that_ part I don't like," said Sonic.

"It gets worse," said Kirrand. "Each time it dives underwater, it'll pick up speed, making it harder to hold onto the handles on its back as the water pushes at you and give you less time between rest periods."

"A true test of those attributes," said Sally. She then looked over at Sonic. "Are you going to be able to handle this?"

"Why would he have such a problem with it?" asked Kirrand, her curiosity finally more than she could bear as to why Sonic would hate this trial.

"It's…embarrassing," said Sonic, turning away from the girls and looking down at the floor.

"What is it?" asked Kirrand. Sonic then mumbled something she couldn't hear in the least. "You what?" she asked again. This time Sonic turned around, anger clearly burning in his eyes.

"I said I can't swim! Happy!?" he shouted at her. Realizing immediately he had snapped at her, he calmed down and closed his eyes, giving a sigh. "Sorry..."

"It's alright," said Kirrand.

"He never learned. He never had the time such was the distraction of the war," said Sally.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of," said Kirrand.

"But someone like me falling apart because of a little water…It's just not right," said Sonic.

"Everyone has something they're afraid of," said Kirrand. She laughed a little as she thought of her own. "I for one can't stand spiders at all. I see one I freak out something terrible. Last time I saw one in my room I ran out screaming and refused to go back in for nearly four hours." Hearing that made Sonic laugh a little himself.

"So then, you okay to do this?" asked Sally again. Sonic took in a deep breath, then let out a long sigh.

"I'm not gonna like it, but I have to do exactly as the trial says and endure it," said Sonic.

"That's the Sonic I know," said Sally. She then walked over next to the plunger. "You guys get on first. I'll push it down when you're ready."

* * *

Tails sighed as he closed Nicole's casing, having finished his repairs of her screen. He knew it would take a lot longer to finish repairing her holographic interface, but for now he was content to see if her screen was indeed fully repaired. Punching in the small computer's start up sequence into her keypad, he waited with baited breath as Nicole's power indicator light came on, her screen coming to life as it shined brightly with light.

"How's that Nicole? Able to see clearly now?" asked Tails. But as the seconds ticked by and Nicole didn't answer back, Tails began to wonder if he might have done something to damage her audio functions when he was fixing her screen. "Uh…Can you hear me Nicole?"

"Yes…I'm sorry for not answering when you first asked…" said Nicole after a few more seconds of silence. "It's just…I've seen the world countless times and yet…I've never seen it this way…It's breathtaking." Hearing this caused a smile to spread across Tails face.

"Can you describe it?" asked Tails.

"I wouldn't know where to begin," said Nicole. "Having our conversations before was already a lot to take in, but actually seeing the world…Seeing your face for the first time like this…"

"It's alright. Take your time with it Nicole. I know it's a lot to take in," said Tails.

"You have no idea how much processing power I'm using right now. Every shape, color, and lighting. Even counting every strand of fur on you just to get the visual image down in my AI matrix," said Nicole.

"You can see that much detail?" asked Tails, arching an eyebrow at Nicole's comment.

"Yes I can. And I've just finished processing what I can see right now," said Nicole.

"Want to see more?" asked Tails.

"More than anything," said Nicole.

"Alright. I'll take you over to Cody and Lily's hut. I'm sure they'll want an update, plus it's lunch time. You can take in Knothole between here and there," said Tails.

"I would love that," said Nicole as Tails reached over and picked the small computer up, holding her in both hands in front of him with her screen facing forward.

"Ready?" asked Tails, looking down at Nicole.

"As I'll ever be," said Nicole. Tails then walked over to the door leading out of his workshop, turning the doorknob and opening the door as the late morning sunlight filled the workshop, giving both of them a great view of the forest surrounding the pathway leading into the main part of Knothole.

"I'll take it slow so you can process everything you're seeing, okay?" said Tails. Not getting a response from Nicole, Tails only smiled as he realized she was probably completely preoccupied taking in all the surroundings. He then slowly started walking up the path, taking his time on purpose to allow Nicole to see everything for as long as possible while still making the trek towards Lily and Cody's hut. As Tails reached the end of the path and entered the commons area of Knothole, several dozen residents, mostly mobians with a few robians whose minds had been freed, were bustling about as they went about their daily activities while Tails ventured through the masses. His slow pace drew a few curious eyes, but no one questioned why the young fox was walking as slow as he was while holding Nicole in his hands away from his view. News of his heroic deeds in Emerald City had reached Knothole well before he and Sonic had returned, and with it a large degree of respect had been imprinted on the people of Knothole. As Tails reached the residential section of Knothole, a smile worked its way across his face as he saw Lily headed towards him coming from the direction of her hut.

"I was just coming to get you for lunch, but looks like you decided to come to us first," said Lily as she walked up next to Tails, spotting Nicole in his hands. "I take it Nicole's fixed?"

"Not entirely. I still have to fix her holographic software, but I thought that could wait for a short time while I take her sightseeing through the village while on my way to get lunch with you and Cody," said Tails.

"She can see us now?" asked Lily, kneeling down in front of Nicole so her face was just a couple feet away from her screen.

"She can, though she's been quiet ever since I've left my workshop," said Tails.

"I'm sorry for that, I really am," said Nicole, speaking for the first time since they had left the workshop. "I just…I've never realized just how beautiful the world is till now. I've been too busy processing it all to talk." Lily smiled as she continued to look into Nicole's screen.

"So what's it like to see the world through a different point of view than before?" asked Lily.

"It's hard to describe," said Nicole. "Everything I've seen so far is as familiar to me as any simple algorithm I've ever processed, yet…it's like night and day comparing what I've seen before to what I've seen in the last several minutes."

"You'll get used to it in time," said Tails.

"Tails is right," said Lily. Suddenly a fairly loud grumble came from Tails midsection, causing Lily to laugh slightly and Tails to get a sheepish look on his face. "But I think there'll be time for that later. Right now I think Tails needs a good meal."

"Is that what a stomach sounds like when it growls?" asked Nicole.

"Yeah…" said Tails, a little embarrassed by what had just happened. "I kinda skipped breakfast to start working on you."

"Which, if I may remind you, I told you _not_ to do," said Lily, looking over at Tails with a frown.

"Sorry, but you know how I get when I'm working on something, especially when it's important," said Tails. Lily's gaze softened somewhat as she stood back up.

"I know. Just promise me you won't skip any more meals, at least till Sonic and Sally get back and then they can chew you up for doing it instead of me," said Lily.

"Promise," said Tails.

"Okay then. Let's get back to my hut," said Lily as the two mobians started walking back into the residential area of Knothole. "I made sandwiches and…"

* * *

Sally and Kirrand watched as Sonic, for the fifth time, stepped one foot out onto the serpent nervously.

"It's not gonna bite you," said Kirrand, watching from her spot seated on the third segment of the serpent just behind its head.

"You try getting over your worst fear in only a couple of minutes," hissed Sonic, looking down at Kirrand with a glare that could kill, causing the echidna to merely throw up her hands and look away from him.

"She didn't mean anything by it Sonic," said Sally softly, drawing Sonic's attention. "But she's right, you stalling won't help anything."

"I know…I know…," said Sonic as he gave a sigh. He then put his full weight down on the smooth stone surface of the back of the serpent with the foot that was on it. When the serpent didn't budge, Sonic realized he was in no danger of falling off it before he got into position and the trial had started. Finally walking out onto the back of the serpent, he quickly made his way to the second segment of stone that made up the serpent. Gripping onto the handle with both hands as if his life depended on it, beads of nervous sweat began to appear on his brow.

"You two ready?" asked Sally as she positioned herself to press the plunger and start the trial.

"As ready as you'll ever get me to be," said Sonic, his voice wavering a little.

"Okay. I'm starting it," said Sally. She then pressed down on the plunger, the stone switch activating as a rumble noise started to sound in the giant room. Not wasting any time, Sally climbed onto the first segment behind the serpent's head. The rumbling noise continued to get louder as the ten second countdown ticked away till right at the eight second mark the cause of the noise became apparent as water began to pour out of the walls near the very top of the room, falling down to add to the amount of water being held in the reservoir. As soon as the first bit of falling water hit the surface of the standing water, the serpent suddenly took off like a shot, spiraling around the room at twenty miles per hour. As Kirrand had read, as soon as the water reached fifty yards deeper than it previously was the stone serpent dove its head under the water's surface, dragging the three mobians along for the ride as it went down several meters. After nearly ten seconds had passed, the serpent rose back out of the water, the three of them still holding on as it snaked its way across the water's surface.

"Okay! I officially _hate_ this!" shouted Sonic.

"Bear with it Sonic, we've got a long way to go!" shouted Sally back to him.

"Don't remind me Sal!" he shouted back. A few seconds later, the serpent sped up another five miles per hour just before diving back under the water again. Once again, nearly ten seconds ticked by before it resurfaced as the water from above continued to fill the room. The pattern continued as the water level continued to rise. By the time they had reached the three hundred and fifty yard mark, they had been able to spot the exit platform above them, but the serpent had also sped up to almost fifty five miles per hour and it was becoming extremely difficult to hold on because now the serpent was diving only five seconds after it resurfaced by this point.

"That's it! I can and will make that jump up there myself after this next dunk because I can't take this anymore!" shouted Sonic. Sally tried to tell him not to do it, but she couldn't get a response out before the serpent dove under again. This time, as the serpent rose out of the water at the four hundred and forty yard mark, Sonic leapt to his feet and prepared to make the necessary jump. But there was one thing he hadn't taken into account when he had decided to make such a move. The stone surface of the serpent was incredibly smooth and now that it was sopping wet it was also very slippery. As Sonic was almost to his feet, his left foot slipped out from under him, causing him to falter and then fall over the side of the serpent.

"Sonic!" shouted Sally as she saw him take the tumble. With nearly fifty yards to go till the water stopped rising, she knew she couldn't go in after him. She was a good swimmer, but with that kind of distance to cover underwater with a person dragging her down, she knew that neither of them would make it. But what happened next caught her completely by surprise and caused fear to grip her even more so than it currently was.

"I'll get him!" shouted Kirrand as she dropped off the back of the serpent, the rising water instantly swallowing her up before Sally could even protest that she'd never make it. Realizing all she could do was ride out the final part of the trial, she gripped the handle for all she was worth as the serpent dove underwater for the last time. As the seconds ticked by, Sally's mind raced as she tried to think of anything she could do to help the situation. The drag of the water all but broke her hold on the handle, but she endured. As the serpent broke the surface and slowed down, she looked back down into the area she had last seen the two of them, knowing it was beyond her ability to help at the moment. The serpent lazily snaked its way over to the exit platform, coming to a stop as Sally immediately got off, rising to her feet on the stone surface of the platform. By her estimate, it had been nearly twenty five seconds since Kirrand had dove into the water, and nearly twenty eight since Sonic had taken the plunge. As the seconds ticked by, tears started to form at the edges of her eyes as the realization that the two of them weren't going to make it hit her. As soon as the fifty third second hit, however, the calm of the water right in front of the platform was shattered as Kirrand broke the surface, Sonic in tow as both of them started hacking and coughing, trying to clear their lungs of the water they had inhaled from being under longer than they could hold their breath.

"Take…Sonic…" coughed Kirrand, Sally instantly dropping down to help pull Sonic from the water. As soon as the blue hedgehog was out, Sally then helped Kirrand climb onto the platform. Both of the waterlogged mobians sat on all fours, trying to get their coughing under control. After a short time, both of them had managed to get their coughs under control enough to take a seated position on the platform, Sally joining them.

"I can't believe you actually got both you and him out of that alive," said Sally, still a little stunned at the outcome of Kirrand's actions as she looked over at the young echidna.

"I knew I could hold…my breath for a good forty five seconds…from experience," said Kirrand, giving a few more coughs between words, finally clearing the last of the water from her lungs. "Still…I was a little off on how long it would actually take to get us back to the surface."

"Well I'm glad the two of you are alright," said Sally. She then noticed that even though Sonic had gotten his cough under control, he was still staring off into space. "Sonic? Everything okay?" Hearing his name get called brought Sonic back to reality, finally looking over at the two girls. He closed his eyes and shook his head.

"Yeah…I'm sorry girls," said Sonic. "I just…I thought that was it as soon as I slipped over the side of that serpent." Here he looked more directly at Kirrand. "And you…I've never seen such a reckless course of action in a long time." Here he paused, but at the same time a smile crept onto his muzzle. "But sometimes reckless is just what a situation calls for…Thanks for saving my life." Kirrand smiled, reaching a hand over and placing it on Sonic's shoulder.

"I did what I knew I had to do because I know you'd do the same for either of us," said Kirrand.

"Angel should be proud to have you as a best friend," said Sonic. "Risking your life for someone you barely know…That's the mark of a true hero."

"I'm no hero. I was just in the right place at the right time," said Kirrand as she looked away from the two of them.

"Don't be modest," said Sally. "Sonic wouldn't have said it if he didn't mean it." Kirrand turned back around to face them at hearing that.

"You really meant what you said?" asked Kirrand, causing Sonic to smile.

"I did. Kirrand, you're a brave young girl that I have no doubt in my mind would do anything to help others even at your own risk after what you just did," said Sonic.

"Thank you Sonic…To hear someone like you say that…It means a lot," said Kirrand.

"You're welcome. Now then…Back to the problem at hand," said Sonic, standing up as the two girls followed suit. "We've had our speed, agility, strength, and endurance tested. I'm stumped as to what the final trial could possibly test."

"Guess we'll find out once we enter the next room," said Sally.

"I suppose you're right," said Sonic. He then started in the direction of the exit, the girls following him. As they walked through the entranceway into the next room, they were greeted by a much smaller room than the last one, but still fairly big as it towered nearly a hundred and fifty meters tall and took up what appeared to be about half a city block. Like before, there was no exit to the room that they could immediately see. However, there was something about the room that stood out rather quickly.

"What in the world are these tiles on the walls for?" asked Sonic, spotting the roughly ten feet by ten feet light blue tiles arranged all over the sides of the walls. Each tile was connected to another one, but at various points the tiles split into two or even three directions from the direction the tiles were previously headed in.

"Never mind that, I see the exit," said Sally, pointing up to a platform jutting out from the far wall nearly a hundred and forty meters above them.

"Can you make that jump?" asked Sally, looking over at Sonic. Sonic frowned, then shook his head.

"Wish I could, but that's even beyond how high I can jump by a fair distance," said Sonic.

"So how are we supposed to get up there?" asked Sally.

"Actually…these tiles seem familiar to me," said Kirrand as she started walking over towards the one tile that was situated at the base of all four of the walls.

"Familiar how?" asked Sonic.

"Well, I've never actually seen one before, but the way they look reminds me of a description of an antigravity tile I've read about in one of the oldest books that actually belonged to the original Nocturnus tribe members that helped found my village," said Kirrand.

"You mean like the hover lifts that we have nowadays?" asked Sonic.

"Yes and no," said Kirrand as she reached the edge of the wall. "While the hover lifts we have today repulse the effects of gravity, they can't reverse and create the effects of gravity." She then placed one foot on the tile and started to walk up as she became parallel with the ground instead of the wall. She then looked up, her upside down head now staring at the other two mobians as she hung off the side of the wall. "See what I mean?"

"That's amazing," said Sally. "I had no idea the ancient echidnas were this technologically advanced."

"Well, most of them weren't. Only the Nocturnus tribe embraced technology. The others tribes dabbled in small amounts of it, but the Nocturnus based their whole way of life around it," said Kirrand.

"And in the end, they went to war with that technology, or so that's what we learned from Tikal's visions," said Sonic. "I wonder what happened? There are no records of anyone finding anything as advanced as these tiles before."

"Even I'm not sure and I've studied our history for years," said Kirrand as she walked back down off the tile and onto the floor again.

"Well, whatever the case, now we know how to get out of here," said Sonic.

"I don't think it'll be that easy," said Sally as she gazed at the layout of the tiles along the walls.

"Why not?" asked Sonic.

"Looking at the way the tiles are arranged on the walls…They run all over the place with intersections everywhere while some paths along them lead to dead ends. It almost looks like it's…" said Sally.

"A maze…" said Kirrand, finishing Sally's thought.

"A maze? Is that all?" asked Sonic. He smiled as he walked over to and up onto the same tile Kirrand was standing on. "I can figure this maze out in a heartbeat with my speed."

"I don't think that's a good-" started Sally before Sonic took off. But no sooner did he reach his first dead end fifty meters up did he suddenly get flung off the tile. Flipping around in mid-air, Sonic managed to get his feet under him just before he hit the ground, landing in a knelt position.

"What happened?" asked Kirrand.

"The stupid tile pushed me off for some reason," said Sonic as he rose back to his feet. Suddenly, a loud grinding noise sounded throughout the room as some of the tiles started to shift their positions on the walls. After nearly a minute, they stopped. Where there had been dead ends, new paths were now apparent while pathways that had once existed were now dead ends.

"What just happened?" asked Kirrand.

"It's the final trial. This one doesn't test physical ability, it tests one's mental ability," said Sally. "We can't just 'speed' our way thru this maze like Sonic was thinking we could. We have to solve the maze."

"But when Sonic made a wrong turn, it threw him off and then reset itself. So that means we can't make one mistake while we're navigating the maze or we have to start all over again with a completely new maze," said Kirrand, now realizing the true nature of the trial that was now before them.

"You're kidding, right?" asked Sonic. Sally just shook her head.

"I wish Kirrand was wrong, but seeing what just happened it makes perfect sense," said Sally.

"Then we're stuck, aren't we?" asked Kirrand, the fear she had kept under control since the end of the first trial now starting to show itself again.

"If we had Nicole with us, she could've easily mapped out the maze for us," said Sally, frowning as she turned towards Sonic. "But _someone_ had to be impatient as always and not wait for her to be repaired."

"Hey! How was I supposed to know we'd need her for a life or death situation?" said Sonic, throwing his hands up in defense.

"Well, too late to be sorry about it now," said Sally angrily.

"Guys! This isn't helping!" cried Kirrand, catching the two mobians' attention. Both of them looked over to see her starting to give into despair.

"You're right…Sorry Sonic," said Sally as she pushed her anger down.

"It's alright…So how do we go about this?" asked Sonic. "I know I'm not smart enough to figure out something like this."

"Give me a minute," said Sally as she turned her gaze up at the maze around them. As the seconds ticked away, Sonic noticed Sally's eyes darting all over the place as she slowly turned in place, taking in the entire maze.

"Okay…The maze isn't terribly complex from looking at it, but there are still a lot of wrong turns from what I noticed," said Sally. She then looked back down at the other two. "Still, if you give me enough time, I think I can map out the safe route."

"You sure Sally?" asked Kirrand.

"No, I'm not actually…," said Sally. Sonic walked over to Sally, placing his hands on her shoulders as he looked her in the eye.

"Come on Sal. You're one of the smartest people I know. If anyone can figure out this maze out of the three of us, it's you," said Sonic.

"But if I don't, we'll die," said Sally.

"You _will_ figure it out," said Sonic. "Sal, you've never let your belief in me falter even under the worst conditions. And I'll be the slowest thing on this planet before my belief in you or any of our friends was to ever be anything but absolute."

"I believe in you too Sally," said Kirrand, pulling her attention from Sonic. "Each of us has kept the others alive throughout this whole ordeal. Sonic got us through the first trial, I saved Sonic during the second, and now it'll be you that gets us through the final trial." Sally smiled at hearing their words, then gave a soft nod.

"Okay…I'll do my best to figure this out," said Sally. "But I'm going to need my full concentration to do so and probably a few hours to make sure I've got it all correct."

"Not a big fan of that timeline, but I can endure it," said Sonic.

"It's alright. You and I can go in a corner and talk while she's figuring it all out," said Kirrand. "I'd love to hear any stories about yourself you'd be willing to share with me." Sonic merely smiled at hearing the request.

"If that's what you want, who am I to disappoint," said Sonic as the two of them started for one of the far corners of the room.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"Alright…last chip replaced and…done!" cried Tails as he looked up from Nicole's inner working for the first time in nearly an hour. He had been hard at work ever since lunch had concluded fixing Nicole's holographic interface, the last and most difficult part of the repairs as the hour was nearing six o'clock in the evening. Punching in Nicole's reboot command, Tails waited with baited breath as Nicole's power indicator light switched on, her screen lighting up.

"So glad to not be shut off anymore," said Nicole.

"Yeah…Sorry that took so long," said Tails.

"It's okay. It was necessary. I'll run a systems check right now to see if everything's in working order," said Nicole. She then started beeping as she ran the check. After about twenty seconds she stopped beeping. "Systems check finished. All systems are fully repaired and in the green."

"That's wonderful news," said Tails as he slumped on his stool, a little exhausted from all the concentration he had been enduring for the last few hours. "Let's run a field test. Show me a random image. You pick."

"Really? Is it okay if it isn't random?" asked Nicole.

"If you had something in mind, that would be fine," said Tails.

"Alright. I've been working on a surprise while I was in the darkness of being shut down. I think it's ready, but I'd like a second opinion on it before I finalize the program," said Nicole. Tails cocked an eyebrow at the statement.

"What kind of program were you working on?" asked Tails.

"You'll see," said Nicole. Her holographic software then started up as what appeared to be a solid image of a late teenage female lynx dressed in a purple toga with green eyes and average length black hair with a single longer beaded strand extending on both sides of the head. The image then moved of its own accord, clasping her hands together as a smile spread on her muzzle.

"Who is that?" asked Tails, not recognizing the person Nicole was displaying.

"It's me, silly. Or at least what I decided I wanted to look like if I were flesh and blood," said the image.

"That's you?" asked Tails. He studied the image for a short time before nodding his head. "I like the look a lot."

"Thank you. You don't see any flaws I didn't detect, do you?" asked Nicole's image as she looked over herself.

"Not that I can see," said Tails. "So can you see through the eyes of the image or just through your screen still?"

"Both actually. Though I think it makes more sense to use the image's point of view since that's what people are looking at," said Nicole.

"Probably a good idea," said Tails. At this point a smile formed on his muzzle. "Now I've got a surprise of my own that I set into motion during lunch. I'm going to go check to see if it's ready now, then come back for you."

"What kind of surprise?" asked Nicole, her face taking on a curious look.

"It's a good one, don't worry," said Tails as he ran out of the workshop. A couple of minutes later he returned, a smile still strong on his face. "Alright. It's all ready to go. If you wouldn't mind shutting down for two minutes please so it doesn't ruin the surprise."

"I don't like being powered down very much…" said Nicole, frowning at Tails as she crossed her arms.

"It's only for two minutes," said Tails. "Also, immediately project your image and have it facing in the same direction as your screen is when you power back on." Hearing this, Nicole's frown lightened up.

"What in the world are you planning?" asked Nicole.

"I told you, it's a surprise. And it's one I'm sure you'll love," said Tails. Nicole gave a sigh as she unfolded her arms.

"Alright. I'll give you two minutes exactly, then I'm powering back up whether you're ready or not," said Nicole.

"Fair enough," said Tails as he looked down at his watch. "On my mark. Three…two…one…mark." Instantly Nicole's power indicator light switched off as her image faded. Tails quickly picked up the small computer and ran out the workshop, twirling his double tails together as he took to the air in the direction of the commons area of Knothole. The trip only took him half a minute, and he was still amazed by the sight that greeted him as he entered the commons. Nearly every mobian and free minded robian in the village had gathered in the commons at the request of Tails, Cody and Lily. Landing about twenty feet away from the group of people, Tails quickly set up Nicole on the ground so that she was facing directly at the group. Once she was in place, Tails ran over to join Cody and Lily.

"How much longer do we have?" asked Lily, causing Tails to glance down at the watch on his left wrist.

"We have forty three seconds till she powers back up," said Tails.

"I'm actually curious to see her like this," said Cody, the robian hedgehog not having interacted with her since the incident had happened.

"All I know is she'll definitely be surprised by all of this," said Lily.

"That was the plan," said Tails. He then twirled his tails together as he took to the air in front of the crowd, turning to face them. "Now remember everyone! As soon as she projects her image, we'll give her the best greeting she'll ever receive!" Everyone hollered out a voice of agreement as Tails landed again and turned around to face Nicole. As soon as the three second mark hit, Tails gave the signal for the countdown. "Three…two…one…!" As soon as the time hit zero seconds, Nicole powered back up and instantly her image began to display for all to see.

"Welcome to Knothole Village Nicole!" shouted everyone in unison, causing the lynx image to instantly cover her mouth with her hands.

"Oh my gosh! I...I'm speechless…Thank you everyone!" she cried back to the group.

"No…Thank you Nicole," said Tails as he walked in her direction. "Everyone here owes you their lives. If we didn't have you around, the war would've been over long ago with our defeat."

"He's right, you know," said Lily as she walked forward as well. "You got Sonic and Sally through a number of tight spots where you were the difference between them succeeding or failing in a mission."

"And as such, all of us would like it if you were to become an official member of our community and a full-fledged member of the Knothole Freedom Fighters," said Cody as he walked up next to Tails and Lily.

"I…I don't know what to say…" said Nicole, tears forming in her image's eyes. "Of course I'd be more than happy to accept that offer."

"We thought you would," said Tails, a smile spreading on his muzzle. Nicole suddenly perked up, her eyes going wide. "What is it?"

"Sorry, I don't mean to interrupt the moment, but I'm getting a high priority transmission from Floating Island," said Nicole.

"Wonder what Knuckles wants?" asked Cody, looking over at Tails and Lily.

"I don't know, but he wouldn't be calling with a 'high priority' anything unless it was something serious," said Tails.

"Should I patch it through?" asked Nicole.

"Please do," said Tails. Instantly Nicole's image was replaced by a somewhat worried looking image of Knuckles. "Hey Knuckles. What's the big emergency?"

"Sorry if I caught you at a bad time," said Knuckles, noticing the large group of people behind Tails and the others.

"It's alright. What's going on?" asked Cody.

"Have you heard from Sonic or Sally in the last few hours? They were supposed to check in with me every couple of hours using the Tornado's radio, but I haven't heard anything from them since they went down to the temple," said Knuckles. Tails looked back at Cody, who merely shook his head before Tails returned his gaze to Knuckles' image.

"No. No one's heard from them here since they left yesterday morning," said Tails.

"I don't like it guys…Something might've happened to them," said Knuckles.

"Or maybe they just lost track of time. Being inside of a temple like that you probably couldn't keep good track of the time," suggested Lily.

"Well, I can believe that both Sonic and Sally would lose track of time, but I doubt Kirrand did," said Knuckles. "No…I think something happened."

"You're being paranoid," said Cody.

"I am not!" shouted Knuckles angrily, crossing his arms as he closed his eyes. "I'm giving them another half hour, then I'm landing the island in the ocean and going ashore to go to the temple and check in with them in person."

"If you think you must," said Tails. "Still, Sonic's with them. I doubt they're in any trouble."

"Sonic being with them is part of the reason I'm worried. Trouble seems to follow him like a lost puppy," said Knuckles. "Half an hour, then I'm going to find them." Instantly, the image cut out, Nicole booting up her image again after the transmission ended.

"He seems a little uptight," said Nicole.

"He usually is, but he means well," said Tails.

"You don't think something is wrong, do you?" asked Nicole.

"Even if there was, we can't do anything about it with them on the southern continent," said Cody.

"He's right. Let's get back to what we were doing so we don't think too much about it," said Lily.

"If you say so," said Nicole.

* * *

"So you've also become the legendary hyper form and saved the Master Emerald from this Dr. Eggman guy as well?" asked Kirrand as Sonic finished recounting the events of his first encounter with Knuckles nearly two years ago.

"Yeah…Lost that ability a while ago though. I had to dump the minis into the Void or else risk the whole planet becoming a permanent resident in that terrible place," said Sonic. Hearing that made Kirrand wince a little.

"I'm beating Knuckles wasn't very happy to hear that news," said Kirrand.

"He wasn't, and I only made the news worse after I said a few things I regretted saying that caused him to break ties with us for several months till we patched things up a couple of weeks ago," said Sonic.

"Okay guys…I think I finally have the safe route figured out," said Sally's voice, causing the two to look up from their corner towards the ground squirrel.

"That's good to hear. I was running out of stories to share," said Sonic as the two of them got to their feet and began walking towards the tile touching the base of the wall, Sally following close behind them.

"So what's the path?" asked Kirrand.

"It's left, left, right, left, right, right, left, right, right, and finally left," said Sally with confidence.

"I'm not gonna remember that off the top of my head," said Sonic with a frown.

"I'll remember. Just follow me as we go," said Sally as she stepped onto the tile and began walking up it. Kirrand and Sonic both looked at one another, then each gave a nod before following Sally up the wall. As the minutes ticked by and they came to each intersection of tile, they picked the right path as they continued to slowly scale the walls of the room. Finally, after nearly fifteen minutes of maneuvering across the tiles, they finally reached the last line that led onto the platform at the top of the room.

"See. I knew you could do it Sal," said Sonic as they reached the end and stepped onto the platform.

"I didn't doubt you either Sally," said Kirrand.

"Thanks guys. I was worried I would screw this up somewhere along the path and we'd have to start completely over again," said Sally.

"So that's it then, right?" asked Sonic.

"Should be," said Kirrand. "We passed all three trials. So I'm guessing in the next room will be whatever it is that tells us about this 'greatest threat' to the planet."

"Should be," said Sally.

"Then let's go," said Sonic as he started walking into the corridor, the two girls following him. Nearly half a minute after walking into the corridor, a large number of stone steps greeted them. As the trio walked up the touch lit steps, a brighter glow coming from the exit to the corridor nearly a hundred steps above them caught their eyes.

"Think that's it?" asked Sonic, looking back at his companions.

"I'd be willing to bet it is," said Sally. As they finally reached the top of the steps, they entered one final room that had no exit from it. In the center rested a teleportation orb like the ones found on Floating Island that allowed for quick travel across its areas.

"Guess that's our exit from this place," said Sonic, immediately taking note of the orb. But the two girls had barely noticed the object. Rather, their attention was focused on a set of four giant murals on the far wall.

"Are those murals what the ancient echidnas left behind to tell of the Fall and the threat?" asked Sally, walking in their direction along with Kirrand. Sonic looked up at them as well, immediately noticing something about the first one.

"Chaos is in that first one," said Sonic, seeing the same depiction of the giant sea dragon that was on the giant mural they had seen at the start of the day, the two girls eyes being drawn to look at that one more closely first. However, unlike the one they had seen before, this one showed him attacking the temple they were now inside of. But he wasn't the only person being shown on the mural. Off to its side was what appeared to be a rainbow furred hedgehog child with red eyes that was battling the watery beast.

"Who is the person he's fighting?" asked Sally, looking at the mobian child with interest.

"Not sure, but I'd be willing to bet whoever it is is battling Chaos in their hyper form," said Sonic, taking notice of the rainbow fur. His eyes looked underneath the mural, spotting what he was hoping he'd see. "Can you read what the text under it says Kirrand?"

"I'll check," said Kirrand as she walked up to the wall and looked over the text. It only took her a few seconds before she turned around to face the other two mobians. "It's depicting the fight between Chaos and what the echidnas simply called, 'Child of the Wind'. It says that the fight ended abruptly when both opponents exploded in a flash of white light, vanishing after it was gone along with any trace of the echidnas that hadn't fled from the war."

"That would explain why the echidnas were nearly wiped out," said Sally.

"Probably, though I thought Chaos was solely responsible for that happening, but apparently this kid was part of it as well," said Sonic. He then looked over at the second mural. "So what's this one showing?" The second mural showed another hedgehog child, although this one was depicted as causing death and destruction as was evident by the lifeless echidna and chao bodies laying at its feet. The child looked exactly like the one in the other mural, but this one's fur was a bright green with blue eyes. Kirrand walked over to the text underneath it and began to read it.

"That's odd," said Sally as she looked at the depiction of the child.

"What's odd about it?" asked Sonic, looking over at her, Sally turning her gaze to him.

"That child's fur and eye color is an exact flip flop of yours," said Sally.

"Coincidence maybe?" suggested Sonic.

"I'm guessing so," said Sally as Kirrand turned back around to face them.

"So this one's telling how another child appeared immediately following the Fall, only this one was the exact opposite of the Child of the Wind. A person of great power with a purely evil heart. The echidnas named him 'Scourge', for that was what he was to the planet. He began to kill anyone he came across and destroyed everything in his path," said Kirrand.

"That's disturbing, but he must've been defeated a long time ago. Otherwise I doubt any of us would be here," said Sonic.

"I think the next mural might have a clue to that," said Sally, looking over at the third mural. The other two looked over at it as well. This one depicted a fight between Scourge and a yellow furred, red eyed female echidna wielding a sword. Above the two combatants was what appeared to be a black gemstone that bore a striking resemblance to a Chaos Emerald. Kirrand quickly read the ancient text underneath the mural, then looked back at the other two.

"Okay. So this one shows of the battle between Scourge and one of the last surviving Nocturnus echidnas. The text doesn't give a name for the echidna, however, which is odd considering they've named the other two mobians up to this point. But that aside, it says that the echidna went into battle wielding the seven Chaos Emeralds and a special sealing sword crafted by the echidnas and imbued with a small portion of the Master Emerald's power thanks in part to a chao they called Artemis," said Kirrand. Immediately Sonic's ears perked up.

"Artemis? I've heard that name before. I was apparently Artemis during Tikal's visions that I saw," said Sonic.

"Does it say anything else?" asked Sally, to which Kirrand nodded.

"Yeah. It says that the echidna was mortally wounded during the battle, but succeeded in striking Scourge with the sword, causing the child to be sealed inside of what it calls the 'Black Emerald', which was then hidden by Artemis", said Kirrand.

"So…This Scourge character was sealed away five thousand years ago," said Sonic, crossing his arms over his chest as he frowned. "I'm wondering whatever happened to that Black Emerald…"

"All I know is I've never heard of it or Scourge before today," said Kirrand. She then turned towards the last mural, walking over and leaning down to start reading the text as the other two walked over to look at it. This one showed the Black Emerald shattering at the very top, with the world at the bottom of the mural on fire with an adult version of Scourge hovering above the world.

"I don't like what I see on this one," said Sonic.

"Neither do I," said Sally.

"This one isn't telling us of the past," said Kirrand as she looked up from the text and turned to face them. "This one's a prophecy of the future."

"Which I always hate those cause the echidna ones always seem to bring about something bad," said Sonic.

"What does it say?" asked Sally.

"It says 'Fifteen years from the day the Conqueror begins his campaign, Scourge will be set free, bring about the darkest hour of Mobius," said Kirrand.

"'Fifteen years since the Conqueror begins his campaign'…" repeated Sally.

"You think you know what it's referring to?" asked Sonic.

"Well…Mobius has lived in relative peace for thousands of years. In fact, the only war I can remember is…No…" said Sally.

"What?" asked Kirrand.

"Our war with Eggman…I think he's the 'Conqueror' the mural is talking about," said Sally.

"It would make sense," said Sonic, crossing his arms over his chest. "But our war with him started nearly twelve years ago."

"Which means if this mural's prediction is true, we only have roughly three more years till this Scourge person escapes the confines of the Black Emerald," said Sally.

"What should we do?" asked Kirrand, a nervous look appearing on her face.

"I don't think there's anything we can do at the moment," said Sonic. "This prophecy's pretty slim in the information department. Doesn't tell us how he gets free or where he'll appear first."

"Should we tell the world about this so that we can be ready for him if he does show up?" asked Sally.

"I don't think that'd be a good idea," said Sonic.

"Why not?" asked Kirrand.

"Right now the world is pretty much at peace. If we let out that it's all about to go to Hades in three years, it'll cause a worldwide panic that might cause just as much damage," said Sonic.

"You're probably right about that," said Sally. "While I'm willing to bet the mobian population could probably take the news okay after everything Eggman's done, the humans might do something rash."

"Like turn on us because this Scourge guy is a mobian," said Sonic.

"That's what I was thinking might happen too," said Sally. "We aren't exactly friends with the human leadership at the moment, though I'm hoping our trip to Zephyr City with Tails to meet their president will improve our relations somewhat."

"So we shouldn't tell anyone about this?" asked Kirrand.

"It's for the best I think," said Sonic. "Still, it wouldn't hurt to start doing as much research into this as we can, maybe figure out a way to stop the prophecy now that we know about it in advance."

"You really think we can stop it?" asked Sally. Sonic sighed, then shook his head.

"Honestly…I'm not sure. These prophecies the echidnas made all those centuries ago always tend to happen, but then again the ones that I'm aware of we didn't recognize the signs before they came true. Maybe with this advanced knowledge we can stop it."

"I hope so," said Kirrand.

"Same here," said Sally.

"Alright…We may not have gotten an answer to my question, but we did discover something a lot more important in the end. But frankly, I'm ready to get out of here," said Sonic as he started walking towards the teleportation orb.

"I can definitely second that thought," said Kirrand as she joined Sonic. However, Sally held back for a few seconds longer, looking back over at the first mural and its depiction of the Child of the Wind.

"Coming Sal?" asked Sonic as he looked back at her. Noticing where her gaze was now focused, Sonic looked back over at the same mural. "What's wrong?" A few seconds later, Sally turned around, shaking her head.

"It's nothing. Let's get out of here," she said as she walked over to the others. Each one placed their hands on the orb, the device starting to glow before the three of them disappeared in a small flash of light. Outside, a small flash of light burst out of thin air before the three mobians reappeared at the foot of the stairs leading into the temple.

"I'm glad to be out of that place and back in the sunlight," said Kirrand, a smile on her face as she gazed up at the mid-evening sky above them.

"There you guys are!" shouted a voice from off to their left, all three mobians turning to the source to see Knuckles rounding the corner of the temple, an angry look on his face. "What the heck happened to checking in with me every couple of hours?" The three of them looked at one another before Sonic looked in his direction.

"Sorry Knux. Guess we lost track of the time," said Sonic.

"You're lucky I don't beat the tar out of you for making me worry most of the day," said Knuckles as he walked up next to them. "So, did you find the answers you were looking for?"

"Unfortunately no. Still, the experience was…interesting to say the least," said Sonic.

"Never thought of you as enjoying ancient history," said Knuckles.

"Anyways, I'm sure I'm not the only hungry one here. How about we all head back to Floating Island to get something to eat," said Kirrand.

"That's actually a very good idea," said Sally.

"Alright. We'll meet back up on the same beach again," said Knuckles. "But I swear the next time I ask you guys to check in with me, do it!" He then started in the direction of the coastline where Floating Island was now resting in the ocean.

"Promise," said Sonic before the trio started back towards the Mystic Ruins Airport.

* * *

Two days prior to when Sonic, Sally, and Tails were to travel to Zephyr City, somewhere on the southern continent, deep within the secret facility where the Egg Fleet was in its final stages of completion, Eggman sat at the controls of one of the many computers that filled the control room of the base as he tried to hack into the human military's classified files on Prison Island, the human's most advanced military research facility on the planet.

"So the Egg Fleet will be ready in five more months…" said Eggman to himself as he continued to key in commands to the computer. "While I'm confident my fleet would decimate anything the humans can throw at me, I did sell them some rudimentary robot designs under a different name to get the capital I needed to fund the fleet's construction. It won't hurt to take a look and see if they made any improvements to my designs." Suddenly the screen lit up with a series of pictures depicting various robots, some humanoid in shape, others looking like orbs with a fin going all the way around the mid sections of their bodies, and a few that looked like two legged walkers of sorts. Off to each picture's side was design schematics. "And I'm in! Excellent!" As Eggman looked over them, he suddenly realized that these prototype robots were on the road to becoming on par with his own creations.

"Hmph…Guess I have to give the idiots some credit. Seems they did a good job reverse engineering the original plans I sold them. Still, doesn't mean I can't crush them underfoot now that I have their design specs," said Eggman. As he perused over the files, a name he had all but forgotten about suddenly caught his eye appearing on a top secret file simply called "Project Shadow". "Professor Gerald Robotnik…I had all but forgotten about both my grandfather and my old name, but seeing this…I wonder what sort of connection he had with this project." As soon as he tried to open the file, however, he was blocked with a password prompt.

"A password? Seems like a childish attempt to stop someone from seeing the file this day in age. Still, with a little bit of time I'll bet my decreption software could crack it," said Eggman to himself. Suddenly he perked up with an idea as he remembered how close his grandfather was to his granddaughter. "No…No that's silly…It _couldn't_ be that simple, could it?" He then entered a five letter word into the password prompt. Immediately, he was rewarded as the file opened up. "Ha! It really _was_ that simple! Let's see just what my grandfather was working on for the military." As Eggman began reading over the files, the project kept referring to something called the "Ultimate Lifeform".

"Well now this is interesting…" said Eggman to himself.

"What is interesting, sir?" asked Snively as he walked into the room.

"My grandfather apparently worked on some project nearly fifty years ago that claimed to have created the 'Ultimate Lifeform'," said Eggman. "Apparently the military grew concerned he would unleash it upon the world, so they captured the creature and have kept it in suspended animation on Prison Island ever since."

"Why not simply kill the beast?" asked Snivel.

"That is something I'd like answered as well. I suppose I'll find out when I meet the creature," said Eggman.

"You're not seriously thinking of waking that thing up after what happened with Chaos, are you?" asked Snively.

"If I want your opinion, I'll ask you for it. Five more months is too long in my opinion to take over the world. And besides, if Sonic tries to destroy the fleet with the Chaos Emeralds, this creature just might be my trump card against him," said Eggman. He then entered the command to download all of the data for Project Shadow before erasing the files from the military's database.

"But sir, you said yourself that the creature is on Prison Island. You'll be walking right into one of the most heavily fortified military bases on the planet," said Snively.

"I'm well aware of that, Snively. But my new walker model should be able to handle anything I come across. Especially now that I found a Chaos Emerald to power its primary weapon," said Eggman as he got up from the computer and walked out of the room, laughing as he went.

**The End**


End file.
